Engine oil for 986
 

Hi,

I'm driving a 1998 2.5L 986 in sunny Singapore. We don't have winter here.

I was told by my mechanic that I should use 5w50 or 5w40 engine oil

Is that true? I want to use mobil1 0w40

My mechanic says 0w40 is "not thick enough".

What is your advice?

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I agree with your mechanic. Use Mobil 5W50. That's what I use. Porsche A40 approved.

But I bought a lot of mobil1 0w40. Is that OK?

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It's interesting that your mechanic says that 0-40 is not thick enough as both are 40 weight oils. If you're not aware, the 0 helps people to understand that it gets circulated quicker when cold. I noticed significant noise reduction upon start up using 0-40 vs 5-40

Your mechanic is a moron

0W is a cold rating and the oil at normal temps is not thinner
Additional 0W-40 is a Porsche recommended weight.

Whether are not you actually "need" 0W is another matter. You don't need it for non freezing temps, but it does not hurt

You are fine using 0W-40 oil

Thanks fellas. This pretty much confirms what I feel about my mechanic.

What about 0w40 vs 0w50?

Would 0w50 be better for our 986 Boxsters? (Given the age, I heard more viscous engine oil confers more protection for the engine, true?)

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Well, I track my car and push it hard and run 5w-40 Motul 8100 Xcess and have no issues. Before I switched to Motul, I was running 0w-40 M1

I pretty much can guarantee I am getting the engine hotter that you will under regular driving

I see you're new here. Welcome to the forum.

Just so you know, few things will light this forum on fire more than an oil discussion. You can use any oil on the Porsche A40 list. For further questions on oil (and further questions in general) it is best to use the forums search function as this and many other topics have been covered at length and there are several great threads on them.

As far as oil goes there are as many options as opinions. Use the search and you'll find them all. Lots of information about Mobil 1 and many other oils.

Most of the mechanics in Singapore have little educations and most don’t read or understand much English. There were times where I have to help to read and explain the OBD codes and direct them to the correct side of car to do repairs (they could not read “Left or Right” in obd).

They do have the technical skills but not the knowledge and knowledge were typically learnt from “observations” and hearsay.
So I won’t fault them much.

Hi,

0w or 15w is irrelevant in Singapore. For older cars with higher mileage, the consensus is to use thicker oil 50 and the trend is gyrating towards thinner oil (40 or even 30) even for higher mileage cars. 40 or 50, key is to use Porsche recommended oil or well established brands.